We Like Comments…
Doesn’t everyone? But I don’t get all that many (even though I’ve got a lot of regular readers here at Full-Time-Blogger).
So I went doing a little digging, we don’t want to be spammed to death (you people know who you are!) but we really would like to get a few more comments (go on, be the first to comment on this post - you know you want to!).
Users Must Register to Comment
The first thing I’ve done is remove the need for users to register to comment, it might sound mad but I’d completely forgotten this option was even switched on! If I had to fill in a form and register every time I commented on a blog I probably wouldn’t bother either!
Incentive
I’ll be introducing a “Top Commenters Feature” every month, and will start to provide links to them on every page (now if that’s not an incentive I don’t know what is!).
Banter
I like it when we do get a comment, if after we’ve replied there’s a little bit of dialogue. It shows that you’re not a fly-by-night comment spammer just looking for a link to your Viagra content - our comment policy should cover that!
What Else Can you Do?
I quite liked Neil Patel’s post over at ShoeMoney about 6 easy way to increase your comment count, most of these we’re doing already!
I would like to reward top commenters here with links back to their site (we’re already part of the dofollow community!), and possibly even guest posts if they are interested?
How do you build commenters on your blog?
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
OK, so I’ll take the bait on this one. I’ve noticed that once the comment cherry is broken on a post, others are more likely to follow. Why are comment’s so important to a site? I pressume you use them to gague how interested your readership is in the content you are posting and to create some sense of community to encourage repeat visits. Anything else?
Ok! I’m in the race
BTW … to get gravatars on your comments, it just takes a simple paste of short code into your comments.php template:
Adding Gravatars to your WordPress blog
I know what you mean about liking to see comments. I have a VERY unique niche, I think, and getting quality comments means opening a dialog, even if it becomes a debate. So, to me, even a nasty comment opens the door for me to start that discussion. I hope to see my site grow, even though I am not a full-time blogger; and I think that comments and dialog are the key to that for my particular area.
Well that worked didn’t it?
@Matt, Nice to see your still here and keeping up with progress - about time you started doing something! You’ve nailed it exactly I think there, depending on what readers are interested in may (and I repeat MAY) direct my postings in the future. Otherwise it’s a bit “Is there anybody out there”.
@Damien, Clever! Two posts, that’s how you win a race you know. I’ve thought about the Gravatars, not sure how many ugly mugs I want on here though!? My theme still isn’t settled, I’m still experimenting with some things - so maybe that’s something to consider?
@Joe, I agree completely - it shows that your readers have views as well and gives you a chance to listen, and debate with them.
No problem Keiron
Always interested to see how things are going with the site. As you know I have similar aspirations to yourself with respect to giving up work and making money through the internet.
Comments are really the life blood of a site like this, without them visitors have no idea about the popularity of your blog and so have no reason to trust that what you write is worth reading.
This is a good subject. I find with interesting/controversial titles I can get some (little) interaction. Thanks for the great info via Michael Martine.
Hi,
@Matt, it’s certainly renewed my faith in this site, which was wandering a little bit this weekend!
@Dennis, I think the incentive route maybe the way to go for you, dofollow creates some of that - and then rewarding people some more just adds to the bargain!
The value of comments is taking a good post and making it great with commentary. This post is a great example. Keiron wrote a good post and got the ball rolling. The comments then continue to improve the value of the post.
BTW, comments on my blog come in spurts. I might get 3 or 4 on one post and none for a couple days (blog only 2 weeks old). I agree with Matt…you need that first comment to get the ball rolling. THANKS MATT for getting it started.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your thoughts!
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